MINUTES
BELL BUOY COMMITTEE
May 6, 2009
Present: Cheryl Van Meter, Archie Johnston, Drew Weeks, Charles Boozer, Ray Archibald, and Iris Hill. Absent: Burley Lyons.
Minutes of last meeting were approved as read.
Four Car Garage/Open Air Market:
Ms. Van Metre said the bids were put out and we have accepted bids from two different companies (one to do shed and inside work and one to do the roof). Ms. Weeks asked for clarification on how much money we need to set aside for grant matching and how much we have to spend on these various projects. It was noted that the amount that would match the grant currently applied for is $250,000, but Mr. Archibald reminded the committee that we passed a resolution to not go below $500,000. So whatever we have over the $500,000 is what we can spend. Ms. Hill stated we have also applied for a grant in the amount of $212,280 from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to do the renovations to the pier. Hence, we have to keep $424,560 since it is a reimbursable grant. We have roughly $581,651.33 in the account now. The bids came in at $25,890 which was under the amount of $33,950 which was set aside to do this project. Ms. Hill said the paint contractor will do a sample for the committee members to go look at and give final approval before the paint job is completed. The colors chosen are Cape Cod Gray for the outside and Benjamin Moore Grassland for the inside. The trim on the outside will be painted antique white and the doors solid gray. The roof will be a 5-V crimped metal roof.
Ms. Van Metre had put together a Seacoast Environmental Heritage Committee to develop a display on the inside of the open air market. The committee is comprised of Lynn Bagnal one of our local artists and interior designers will be the chairman, Scott Paschall who is a grandson of the Bells and local photographer, and Sharon Etheridge will be in charge of getting the photographs to be put on display. This display will show the seacoast heritage and the shrimping industry that was previously on the property and the word environmental is used because as she had sent to the committee last month, there is a Keep America Beautiful UPS Foundation Grant in the amount of $10,000 which will be applied for by the 22nd of June for this heritage display.
Ms. Van Metre moved that the committee ask the Town Council to approve $1,250 from the park fund (which is the amount received from the sale of the tractor and stove). These funds would be used to begin work on the Seacoast Environmental Heritage Display for the open air market. Mr. Boozer seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
Minutes/Bell Buoy Committee
Page Two
May 6, 2009
Cleaning of 4 Spots:
Ms. Hill stated that if this is stimulus money, then they are supposed to be spending it as soon as possible, which she hopes will be fairly soon. These funds would come from the stimulus funds set aside for Brownsfield cleanup. The amount approved through Town
Council for these 4 sites was $14,000. She asked them to come back and give us a cost for a turnkey job so we don’t have to touch it. The amount quoted for this was $22,730. We also heard back from DHEC who said yes they are getting stimulus money and they have applied for a grant through the Brownsfield Program which would also include an amount to cap the rail area. We should be hearing something back soon on this, which hopefully will be sooner than later.
Dock, Fishing Pier & Permits:
Ms. Van Metre asked if we have the permit for the rails yet. Ms. Hill’s response to that is no we still don’t have that permit yet. Mr. Archibald questioned are we sure we want to spend that much money on a pier that we may not want to be liable for? He suggested maybe building a boardwalk across the whole property instead of the pier. After discussion it was decided that the committee needs to think about this and decide what they really want to do. In the meantime, wait on the RFP and see if the permit comes in for the railing.
Seawall:
Ms. Van Metre said she was very impressed that something could be guaranteed for 50 years. She commented that she doesn’t know if the committee needs any more information on the seawall materials at this time or not. She asked Mr. Gusler if there is anything he can input at this time. He stated that the rip rap estimate (high end) is $36,000 for 300 feet. He thinks a more realistic figure at this stage due to the economic situation would be half of that or $18,000. His estimate for the vinyl seawall (50 feet span along where the ramp is) is $7,000. This gives us a sense of direction at this time.
Marina Report:
Mr. Johnston stated the committee’s mission is to first find out if we can do this with the marina and second if whatever we propose would be agreeable to the Marina Association. So, the sub-committee went over and spent time trying to come up with a solution. While they were there, someone came up with a 40’ boat and gave input on the idea which helped them come up with the rough draft that was given to the committee. They also met with Culvert Huffines and Dan Carter who agreed it looked like a feasible solution and they will try to get cost estimates and go back to the slip owners for their approval. Mr. Johnston thinks we need to go back to the town attorney to see if he thinks this idea will be legal to let them use this small portion of the property to have better access to their boat ramp.
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